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Discovery
With this chance
discovery of a few, small gold nuggets on the American River, everything changed in
California. Sutter
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Top: Gold Pan, James Marshall's Hammer
and Autograph, Photo by Catherine Buchanan Middle: James Marshall's Autograph Card, Collection of Oakland Museum of California Bottom: James Marshall in front of Sutter's Mill, Coloma, 1851, Collection of Peter Palmquist |
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Gold! One of the most galvanizing events in California history occurred on January
24,1848. John Sutter had a huge land grant at the junction of the American and Sacramento
Rivers. He hired James Marshall to build a sawmill at a place the Maidu Indians called
Coloma. On that cold January morning, Marshall spotted something shining up from the
millrace. He picked up several pieces. Were these small nuggets really gold?
He tested one by smashing it between
two rocks. It flattened and didn't shatter. The woman who cooked for the construction crew
tested another in a pot of lye. It was gold!
had hoped to keep the news of this discovery quiet while completing his
construction. But there was no containing gold fever! 